Almost 155,000 Sea Migrant Arrivals to EU, Over 450 Dead, Missing in 2016

Since the beginning of 2016, 154,886 migrants and refugees have arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean Sea, and 467 have died or gone missing while making the journey, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Friday.

GENEVA (Sputnik) — According to IOM's Mediterranean Update: Migration Flows Europe: Arrivals and Fatalities, most of the arrivals and deaths were recorded among those heading for Greece, with 143,886 arrivals and 362 deaths.

"That compares to fewer than 20,000 migrants and refugees during the same period last year," IOM said in the update.

About another 1,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Spain in 2016 via the the Mediterranean Sea, according to IOM.

Europe has been beset by a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants fleeing their home countries to escape violence and poverty. Many of them take the West Balkan route, which crosses Greece, using the county as an entry point into the bloc from which they travel onward to wealthier EU states where they intend to apply for asylum.

Earlier in March, Ankara pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive to the European Union from Turkey and send in their place documented Syrian refugees on a one-for-one basis.

In return for Turkey’s help in tackling the EU migrant crisis, the European Union has pledged to accelerate the country's EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime between Turkey and Europe, as well as to providing 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) to deal with migrants, with Ankara seeking another 3 billion euros to tackle the matter.